Hezbollah drone attack seriously wounds IDF soldier after rocket barrage hits northern Israel

An IDF soldier was seriously wounded by a drone attack near the Israeli Kibbutz Hanita, carried out by the Lebanese terror group Hezbollah on Saturday, Israel Defense Forces said in a statement.

“An IDF reserve soldier, a member of the kibbutz’s standby squad, was seriously injured. The soldier was taken to a hospital for medical treatment and his family was informed.”

Following a short period of relative quiet on the northern border, with Hezbollah only carrying out two to three attacks during the preceding days, the terror group has been increasing the intensity of clashes since Friday.

In addition to the drone that wounded the IDF soldier, another drone and three rockets were fired at the Hanita area on Saturday, according to the IDF. Israeli forces responded by shelling the launch area with artillery.

מטוסי קרב תקפו לפני זמן קצר מתחם צבאי נרחב של ארגון הטרור חיזבאללה במרחב ריחן ובו מבנים צבאיים ועמדה צבאית pic.twitter.com/fQ0TbJtzb4

— צבא ההגנה לישראל (@idfonline) April 13, 2024

Shortly after, another explosive drone struck an area near Kfar Blum, without causing injuries. The IDF reacted by striking Hezbollah targets in southern Lebanon’s Tayr Harfa, Alma al-Sha'ab and Yarine.

Earlier in the day, the IDF carried out airstrikes on an “extensive military compound” of Hezbollah in the Rihan area. Before that, Israeli artillery shelled a target near the Lebanese town of Rmeish to remove an imminent threat.

On Saturday morning, the IDF also carried out four strikes at the same time against several Hezbollah targets in the areas of Houla, Beit Lif, al-Adayseh and a-Taybeh.

מטוסי קרב של חיל האוויר תקפו לפני זמן קצר בארבעה מרחבים שונים במקביל שורת מטרות של ארגון הטרור חיזבאללה בדרום לבנון.

במסגרת התקיפה, הותקפו מבנים צבאיים של ארגון הטרור חיזבאללה במרחבים חולא ובית ליף, ושתי מפקדות של הארגון במרחבים אל עדייסא וא-טייבה>> pic.twitter.com/9KbfhmOOTJ

— צבא ההגנה לישראל (@idfonline) April 13, 2024

This latest round of fire exchange began on Friday evening when Hezbollah fired a barrage of some 40 rockets near the northern Israel town of Metula, near the southern Lebanese border.

The IDF said some of the rockets were intercepted and the rest fell in open areas without causing casualties.

Multiple Iron Dome interceptions seen over the Galilee Panhandle. https://t.co/zSXkgN2VVA pic.twitter.com/20KoQueqtL

— Emanuel (Mannie) Fabian (@manniefabian) April 12, 2024

The rocket alert on Friday was the first siren after roughly 48 hours of quiet, marking the longest period without alarm sirens sounding on Israel’s northern border (except for the ceasefire in November) since the war began, Army Radio reported.

Even so, earlier Friday evening, Israeli air defenses intercepted two explosive drones that crossed over into Israeli territory, demonstrating that Hezbollah has not stopped its attempted attacks against Israel.